It was the talking of the violins.
They were human voices, and they spoke a language Elnora understood.

It seemed to her that she must climb up on the stage, take the instruments from the fingers of the players and make them speak what was in her heart.
That night she said to her mother, "I am perfectly crazy for a violin.

I am sure I could play one, sure as I live.

Did any one----" Elnora never completed that sentence.
"Hush!" thundered Mrs.Comstock.

"Be quiet! Never mention those things before me again--never as long as you live! I loathe them! They are a snare of the very devil himself! They were made to lure men and women from their homes and their honour.